Method of manufacturing metallized electric-incandescent-lamp filaments.



PATENTED JAN. 21, 1908.

METHOD 0F MANUFACTURING METALLIZED ELECTRIC INCANDESCENT LAMP P. M. F. CAZIN.

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A TTOBNEYJ' No. 877,171. PATENTED JAN. 21, 1908. P. M. F. GAZIN.

METHOD 0F MANUFACTURING METALLIZED ELECTRIC INCANDESCENT LAMP FILA MENTS. ArrLroA'non rxLnn um. 15.1904.

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87 F. M. F. cAzIN.

METHOD OP MANUFACTURING METALLIZED ELECTRIC INCANDESCENT LAMP FILAMENJS. ArPLxoA-'rlon rILnn Ano. 15.1904.

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P M A L T N E 0 S E D N A O N I C I R.. T C E .L NB I DS ZET. AZN CIB .LM PL .AA MTH EF RM G N I R U T C A F U N A n M F m o .l D 8 m 0 N M M APPLIOTIOI FILED LUG. 15. 1904.

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-f f www@ Mdm specifications of these my UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS M. l". UAZIN, OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING EETALIIZED ELECTBICfINCANDEBUENT-Lm.

FILAKENTS.

Specification of Lettera Patent.

Patented Jan. 21, 1908.

Applicant en .una 16.1904. anni 11. 220.819.

and that I have pending a number of a plications before the. U. S. Patent Office on the same line of invention and improvements, filed between February 1899 and the date of this application. All of the inventions, thus by me claimed, constitute a successive organic entirety and relate intimately to one another. I inay therefore of necessity have to refer to and cite from the prior patents and applications, in -order to ully and'clearl describe my present further and new as well as useful improvements, as a further organic evolution in my persistently for long years continued experimental work in the indicated line. Mymain purposein suchexperimental work has been to substitute the carbon, used in its different hysical phases as the material for electric g owers,-and thus used exclusively in the electric lamps of trade, by a better material for the purpose, viz. by metallized or metallowers as well as by coating these with oxids of the raremetals. I have succeeded in this my purpose in sundr ways, described and have either disclose these .ways in my said specifications fully or in such a manner, that they became the proper object forlater and special other applications, being in the first instance either only vaguely alluded to, or, subject to official demand for division.

In an zltpplication of Oct. 15, 1897, on which Letters atent N 0.621292 were issued to me on the 14th of March, 1899 I disclosed and claimed a carbon filament, to form the negative ole in an eleetrolytic bath, in the shape, in w lic-h it is to be used in the lamp, without direct connection with the positive pole, such as used in the common fashing process."

Under the then rcvailing rules of practice l was then officia ly compelled to divide such disclosures and claims out of the said application. I therefore re cated such disclosures and claims in mly su sequent applications, and have. especial y done so in my application now pending No. 735439, filed on Oct. 31 1809, where I again disclosed and described the formation of such coating by innnersing the carbon filament in a suitable electrolyte,

the filament being primaril bent to shape and forming thc cathode o the electrolytic bath, the coating deposited being an alloy of metals of the ruthenium osmium class.

In another ap lication filed by me on the second day of une, 1904, 210870, I have stated at length the reasons wh a 'slight admixture of latinum is desira le in the alloy coating )efore' referred to, and have described the coating as by preference consisting of an alloy of osmium and iridium with an admixture of platinum. And in my application No. 562189, of September 11 1895, on which Patent N0.- 626646 was anual to me on March 7, 1899, I have disc osed a new feature in the construction or making of the incandescing bodies in electric lamps, namely a chemical insulation and protection as. against the affinities and reactions of ad- `loming matter under current, be the same 1n a solid or in a fluid state; and in all of m further disclosures of improved filaments have .reserved to myself the opti( nal introduction or -co-use of such chemical insulation and protection.

In my present a plication the aforesaid feature as invented Iby me becomes of especial im ortance, as by its a plication in the form o an electrolytically eposited coating the filament becomes inert as a ainst the' affinity and reaction thereon of t e oxygen present in the atmosphere. With such protection or chemical Insulation the vacuumbulbs may eventually be entirely dispensed with, and when used would loose their present character as a protection of the luminant against combustion and would remain exclusively a protection ainst -touch 'or collision, that In' ht do mec anical damage. I therefore consi er my vacuum-bulbs as 1n no wise identical with those at present used' in the art of electric lighting as a protection against combustion.

.It is therefore'tht purpose and object of this present application for Letters Patent to primarily further protect my new and useful invention, of the above specified luminant 'of an electric lamp, with or without its chem- 5 ical surfacerotection or insulation.

Itis of fhest importance in a practical or commercial sense, when electric lamps, that have these described luiniiiants are offered to the public or trade, that each individual lamp in each size or standard of light-production be virtually uniform or of equal standard with all others belonging to the same standard.

So far I have disclosed only apparatus for electrolytically plating single cores or prim carbon-filainents or at most a very limited number thereof in one and the same operation. 1n other words, l have mainly described and shown apparatus and methods for making samples singly of my improved filaments b means of an electrolytic process, and it is'o importance, that l. now also disclose method and apparatus for manufacturing these. luminants on a large scale, or simultaneously under identical technical conditions which 'will secure uniformity of product. o do this is the main purpose and object of this present application. I protherefore to disclose in this application m method. and apparatus for suc manufacture under uniform conditions on a large and consequently economical scale, thus securing a uniform and commercially acceptable roduct. And I obtain such uniformas it o product primarily by either of two temate improvements in electrolytic ap'- pa'ratus in general or in special eleetrolytic apparatus for the manufacture of luminants for electric lamps. In both cases the appara- 4o tus is arranged to the effect (1) that my plural-apparatus is composed of a tiilurality of cells or compartments, each of w ch constitutes a com lete singlel plating apparatus in itself, and t t all the single apparatus in such a plural-apparatus are'so arranged, that they have open connection with one another to effect, that the vsaine electrolyte-bod can circulate through all of the single cel or compartments, each of which may contain one or more cathode-filament cores, and (2) that sundry plural-plating-ap aratus are preferably interconnected for tllie purpose of such electrolyte circulation be it by' gravity or by aid of special mechanical means, and (f5) tha the electric-current-conditions be uniform or all cells. It remains then for me to disclose the selective oi'alternate further I[means for obtaining the desired yunifornnty as between the' single luminants. But it should be well understood, that each of these selective or alternate means does not only concern the unforinity as between individual luminanfs but concerns, and even to a higher degree, the inter-uniformity. of 65 each electrolytic coating on each single fi'anient. ',lheclectivc or alternate means for obtaining the stated uniformity consist in either one or the other of thc two as here below stated, or in their even more preferable simultaneous application. 'llie one. consists in providing each cell with a central cathode-core and with two anode-regeneratinir poles and matter, which stand iii line with and on opposite sides of the cathode core and on about the saine level and the other (preferably used together with the two regenerating anodes but ca able of use with only one anode. to each cat iode) consists in mechanical means for slowly revolvimr the cathode-core on its constructive longitudinal axis by iuecliaiiical means before one anode or between two regenerating anoiles. My improved method and apparatus for )reducing uniform metal deposits 'on cores in final filament, or luininant-shapc further includes anodc-troughsor cups to contain the metals required for the regeneration of the electrolyte and includes means foi' heating the electrolyte be it on its entire circulation or on its way locally at intervals, the, latter preferabl between plural apparatus, and several ot ier contrivances and parts, their construction and arrangement, as hereinaf'ter further described and pointed out.

For a full and clear uiulcrstanding of the sub'ect matter of this application it should be urther said, that applicant has been using a great variety of chemical solutions, prepared on a great variety of formulas in the preparation of electrolytis as bv him made use of in carrying out his clectrolytic coating'r of filaments and that he has as the result of long and assiduous experimenting preferably selected some of them for his almost exclusive general use. under various mmlif'ications 105 made to adapt the filaments to the intended class, or standard' functions, and that while.

a iplicant covets protection also for the by limi selected formulas, he admits, flint as such they all are'but part and parcel ol' gcn- 110 eral chemical as'wcll as physical science, as

far as the components are concerned, aside of `those, which are intended to forni the electrolytic cathmle-deposit. Applicant therefore will here further below specify the solvent 1 i 5 conditions as by 'him preferably selected.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which similar parts arc designated by similar marks of reference, Figure l, representsasinglc bath constructed in accordance w ith this invention, Fi'g. 2, is a plan view thereof, Fig. 3, is an. end elevation of the installationof multiplex baths also in accordance u ith this invention, Fig. 4, 'is a vertical section,

and Fig. 5, is a detail plai'i view o'f one of the 125 baths shown in Fig. 3, with the. cover broken away, Fig. 6, is a detail of a filament mountezl in the butt preparatory to depositing thereon the metal coat, Fig. 7, is a section through a completed filament, Fig. S, is a 'ments simultaneously and for this plan view of an installation of Fi 1. 3, Fig. 9, is a detail view of the rotating cat iode socket showing also the position occupied by the cathode in relation to the parts of the vat, Fig. 10 is a vertical section through a com pleted lamp.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the vat A is of any desired contour, for instance, elongated, and of any desired material. 'l'hus it may be of 'lass or of vitrified pottery. Upon the inner ace of its front and rear .are shelves B in which are formed cups C each of which contains a metal or metals to be applied as a coating upon the carbon filaments of the lamps. A platinum wire D conducts current into each of these cups, which hohl the anodes of the bath. Such a vat may be mounted in a water or oil 'acket K by which it may be heated, the vat itself being carried on the upper ends of pairs of pivoted levers E actuated by the screw shaft F, thus forming a pair of lazy tongs, so that upon rotating the shaft the vat may be lifted bodily from the bath and thus its temperature controlled. 'l he top G of tlie vat carries a suitable socket H in which the base W of one of my improved lamps may be placed to hold it while the coating is being deposited on the carbon filament b, whichis secured to said base and connected up in the manner pointed out in my aforesaid pztent and applications, and w ich when t cover is in place projects within the electrolyte contained i-n the vat. The leading-in wires q and r of the base are led throug the central bore of the socket and connected to a wire Dz lea-ling to the negative pole of a suitable generator or distri u-tion system, and thus the carbon `filamentforms in itself the cathode of the bath, and is located at equi-distance from the anode cu s, whereby as the ions travel towards it om o postte sides a" uniform coatinlgi is deposi on all parts of the filament w ch is by preference so turned that its lines are as nearly in the central plane as possible.

In large installations it is desirable to provide means for handling a number of filathe vats may be in the form 'Ofelgngated troughs A which by preference are formed of woodthoroughly soaked or boiled in shellac varnish or its equivalent. These troughs are arranged in a double series of steps, with P88838@ Ways M between alternate troughs as shown in Fig. 3 .and 8, so that the contents. of one trough may be drained in the one immediatel below it, with suitable drains N' from the installation to the sumps N, from whiczh the exhausted liquid may be led by any suitable means, such as a pum N to .the dou-ble collecting and regenerating tank O locatedabove the installation, from the o pointe sides of which the hereinbefore l the troughs on each side of scribedcells of the troughs on the corresponding side of the steps may be fed directly b the induction pi es n and distributing pipe n, the latter discharginnr into the bottom of the several cells, while each of the troughs is provided with an overflow pipe o which are connected to the distributing pipes n discharging into the bottom of the several cells of the lower troughs, the overflow pipes 'of the lower troughs discharging directly into the sum 'The pipes N --nand o are all provide with suitable stop cocks by which the circulation of fiuid therethrough may be controlled and directed es desired, and if desired burners n may be located beneath the sump N and the regenerating tank O for the purpose of maintaining the electrolyte at any desired tem erature, this arrangement being either ad itional or alternate to the arrangement of steam heating devices here.- inbefore described as located in the bottom of the vats themselves. Fig. 4 shows the one of the alternate arrangements, namely the one, where a series of heating pipes passin longitudinally from end to end throug 1 the trough and near to its bottom, such arrangement necessitating the shortening below or 'the )erforating of the Glass-division-plates P, wliich is avoided in the other alternative of heating the electrolyte in the vats O. In the latter case the division-glassplates are alternately one by one reaching the bottom and not reaching the bottom to the effect, that the electrolyte is forced to flow longitudinally through the trough on its way over the to of the partition, that reaches the bottom an under the lower e'nd of the somewhat higher partition, that does not reach the bottom.

Each trough A is sup orted on an'insulating base S and has on t e inner faces of its front and rear a series of shelves B', each of which is rovided with a depression forming the cup in which the metal to be deposited is contained, the'length of the trough bein'g divided into a plurality of compartments by means of partitions P formed of sheet glass, inserted in the vertical groove p in the frontend rear walls of the trou h, the grooves being so placed that a division plate is located between adjacent shelves B on the front and rear of the vat, each trough being thus divided into a series of compartments inter-communicating at the top and bottom, each of which contains two anode cups. A wire D leading from the positive distribution wire D f the electric circuit terminates in each anode cup, these wires bei carried down into the vat throu h glass lilies Q into which they are seal at the lower ends, so that only the lower ends are exposed to the action of the electrolytes. These. lower ends may be of latinum.

A cover Gl is provided which may be continuous from end to end iio or the trough,

thereof or a series of covers may be used one for each compartment or groups of compartments, but in any event the cover or covers is provided with a socket or sockets ll. such as before. described, a. socket being located above the center of each of the compxutments into which the vat is divided. Bv preference I hinge the covers to the rear edge of the vat by removable pintle hinges 'l so that a cover may be taken ofi' with the lamp bases a: between the filament b and the leading-in wires g and r are located slightly below the level of the electrolyte, although above the levelof the glass partition l. Under these conditions the electrolyte deposit will also take place upon thc joint, protecting the latter.

I My completed lamp is shown in Fig. 10, .and b preference it consists of a glass l base tl in which are sealed the leading-in and filaments therein mounted and removed l wires q and r, and to which the filament as a whole to the bench, upon which the i b is secured. 1t is in this shape when the bulbs are sealed onto the base, inthe manner l coat or coats is deposited upon the filament, disclosed in aforesaid application. As under] and thereafter the base is inserted in the these conditions the covers are removed from neck of the usual glass` bulb wi, the filaments the vats they should be made'to standard and should be interchangeable one with the other.

1 have said that it is a convenience to so construct the sockets 1l that they are adapted to receive the bases of my improved lamps to which the carbon filaments have already been secured, a base of this charactor with an uncoatcd filament attached thereto being shown in Fig. 6, and it is likewise of great importance that the filaments be each covered uniformly at all points with a selected deposit and as this can only he done by subjecting -ever part of the. surface thereof to identical e ectrolytic conditions, I prefer to mount the carbon cathode that it may be rotated in front of the anode for use with a single' anode, 'or between o ositely placed anodes for use with a doulile anode hereinbefore described. To efl'ect this they mechanism shown in Fig. 9 may be employed which consist ofsuitablc'bearing U secured to the cover G-G of the vats, through which projects the stem h of the socket ll', the stem having a key-way h in its upper end to which is secured a groove pulley h around which a driving belt or cord h passes.. The stem, by preference, is hollow,

through which the terminal wires q and. r of the lamp pass, both of them being connected to the pulley binding ost h mounted .on the u per face of the atter, a spring contact h connected to the wire w. bearing upon the'lower surface of the pulle v,'thus connecting the filament b of the lamp base to the negative source of' current, thus making it as a whole cathode of 'the bath and as the nllley is rotated while current is passing al parts of such cathode thafilament, will, by the rotation thereof around its longitudinal axis, be alternately moved away from and toward thc anode or anodes, thus equalizing the deposit.

A collar h surrounds the stem h of the socket above the bearing, and b its adjuntment, duc to the set screw' lz. determines the position ol' the soelaet and of the cathode when carried thereby, which adjustment,

l properly sha )ed to admit this. By the aid l of heat, the lmse W is then ex anded as b blowing, or the neck of thc bull) is reduce( 'as bv spinning or both combined to cause the hase to maken hcrmetical joint in the neck of the bulb, alter which the usual threaded collar w', provided with the orcelain cap w, and butt contact w is astened around the neck of the bulb, one of the leading-in wires q being secured to the collar and the other to the.' butt contact. The coating which 1 prefer to deposit upon the filament is of an alloy of metals o the ruthenium osmium class, and preferably consists of precisely the saine composition, as the natural aridosmin, to the extent, that bv chlorination, this mineral can be made soluble. As a rule this mineral contains a small portion of platinum. Ap lieant in ex ernnenting found that suc irence had, the efl'ect of rendering the e ectrolytic metal-coating of mainly iridosmin less brittle and more duct-ile than a coating not containing any platinum, and applicant therefore in case of the percentage o platinum present in the mineral iridosmin not being sufficient for producing the said ell'ect to a desirable degree added chlorid of platinum tothe electrolyte or in other I words, platinum to the deposited alloy. It is understood, that the portion of latinum thus added must be so small, that tlie infusibility of the other metals in the allo be not materially lessened. properly limited portion' of latinum is productive of other good qu ities in the perfected filaments. It is found, that with 1t the deposit is smoother and of uniform texture, and is less inclined to oxidize on the surface. T hesc qualities as stated of the alloy-deposit are materially enhanced by using in the electro] te the double-metal chlorids, where, in addition to the chlorids of the named metals there are present also the chlorids .of potassium, or the therewith equivalent smlium-chlorids.

In a certain sense t-his by me preferably select-ed com )osition of my electrolyte or t0 a more precise v state-the case,v of the solving s l I l The addition of a s as is shown in Fig. 9, such that the points agencies for the metals, which I propose to eectrol tically deposit, is but an analogy to the metdiod indicated by F. Woehler as early as 1868 of absorbing osmic compounds in an alkaline fluid to form an electrolyte, from 6 which osmium in metallic form may be prcci itated. (Compare ANN/ Chem. Pharm. CfLVI-263-375.) Attention is further directed to the fact, that the regularity of the entire operation is enhanced or favored by 10 the material containedin cups or troughs at the anode-ends 4of the pole-wires, which are, where not chemically insulated or rotected by glass, immersed into such material,A which contains the sundry metals in about the same proportion, as the desired deposit on the cores, and that these metals in these pole cups or troughs should be in the form of dust or 1n that of as finely divided articles as can be obtained by hysical or c emical operation. It is further worth knowing, that a metal deposit, thus produced is a true alloy, the constituents of which can no longer be separated by means of the different melting temperatures of each, because the alloy has a melting tem erature of its own as a whole. And this me ting temperature of the alloy, as by me invented is not materially lower than that of the so-called infusible metals, but is a ductile'eompound-metal as a ainst the brittleness of said metals sing y. It neither should be left out of consideration, that the surface-coat of protection or chemical insulatlon need not of necessity be of metal,I the function being performed fully and adequately if the surface-coat'consists of a metal or of 1ts oirygen com ound, if the latter remams a sohd coat an does not, as in the case of o snuum take a gaseous form, leaving the ,lummantunprotected or chemically nonl0 insulated, as all described heretofore by applicant. f It is a further feature of my present invention, that I mount the primary core on its lamp-base, or on'an essential part thereof be- 15 foreI makeuse of it as the cathode in the platmg cell. This has the advantage, that thev completed luminant need not be further hand-led or manipulated except to insert and eventually seal it in one or more glass-bulbs, such a completed lamp being shown in Fig. 9. It will be noted that not only is the bath hefeinbefore described suitable for use in'depositlng the specific alloy but that it-may be used 1n subsequent manipulation of the filai5 ments and in depositing thereon such other and fui ther coats as may be desired, as for instance, depositing u on a carbon core which has thereon the al oy coating a coating of chemical insulation to resistoxygenation, O as hereinbefore suggested.v

Having 'thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The method for roducin glowers for '55 electric incandescent amps w 'ch consists in'coating or metallizin carbon-filaments, when bent into their final ongitudinal shape, with a coat, deposit or layer or layers of metal in an electrolytic plating ap aratus.

2. The method of roducin gowers for electric incandescent llamps w lich consists in coating or metallizing carbon-filaments or raphite-filaments, when bent longitudinally mto their final shape and when mounted on a baseart,with a coat, cover, deposit or layer oi) metals and their 'alloys in an electrolytic plating apparatus.

3. The method of manufacturing glowers for electric incandescent lamps, which method consists in coating, covering including its terminals, or metallizing a filament, made of carbon or graphite, and when bent into its final longitudinal shape, and when mounted by inleading wires on a base-part, with metal in an electrolytic plating apparatus.

4. The method of manufacturing glowers for electric incandescent lam s, which method consists in coating, inclu ing terminals, filaments of carbon, that are bent into heir final longitudinal shape and mounted on a base by means of inleadin wires, with .metal-alloy in an electrolytic p ating apparatus,

5. The method of manufacturing glowers for electric incandescent lamps, which method consists in coating carbon-filaments, that are longitudinally bent into the shape intended for them in the lamp, and are mounted on a base part by means of inleading wires and terminals,-with metal in an apparatus, which consists of an interconnected selies of electrolytic p lating or metallizing ce s.

6. The method of manufacturing glowers for electric incandescent lamps, which method consists in plating or metallizin lcarbon-filaments, when they are bent longitudinally into the shape intended for them as operating glowers, and when they have been mounted on a glass-base-part b means of inleading wires and their termina s, in an apcparatus, which consists of a trough, divl ed into single electrolytic plating cells, and which cells are interconnected, to permit the circulation of the electrolyte from cell to cell, thereby securing uniformity of electrolytic deposit in quality of serial deposits, according to the electrolytes used in the apparatusk Y 7. e method of manufacturing glowers for electnic incandescent lamps, which method consists in plating or metallizing carbon-filaments, when in their shape, intended as final, and mounted on a lass-basepart by inleading wires and termlnals, with a coat of metal of the osmium-ruthenium class in eleetrolytie inter-connected plating cells.

8. The method of manufacturing glowers 130 bon-filaments, which arelongitudinally lient i into the shape intended for tliem as operat- 1 for electric incandescent lamps, which method consists in plating or metallizing carbon-filaments, that are longitudimilly bent into the shape, they are intended to have as operating glowers, and are set on a glasshasepart by means of inleading wires and terininals,in an interconnected series of eleetrolytic cells with allov (natural or artificial) of metals of the osmium-ruthenium class.

9. 'lhe method of nmnufaeturing glowers for electric incandescent lamps, which method consists in plat-ing or metallixing cai ing glowers, and which are set on a glassfollowing in the order as they possess less of `such allinity.

l0. 'lhe method of manufacturing glowers for electric incandescent lamps, which method consists in lnetallizing or plating graphitic filaments, which are longitudinally bent. into the shape; that. they are intended to have as linished gloweis, and which are set on glass-hase-parts hy means of thel inleading wires and their ter1ninals,-in a f trough, divided into single,- intcreommunieating clcctrolytic cells, with layers of nietallic alloys of dillerent degrees of allinit-y `for oxygen, these with the higher atlinit-y forming the inner layers and those of the less allmity the outer layeis, the outermost.

base-part by means of inleading wires and l being allowed to oxidize on its exposed surterminals.in an interconnected series of l face.

elcctrolytic cells, allowing the flow through them of the electrol te,with layers of metal,-the metals o highest allinity. for oxygen forming the innei' layer and others FRANCISH. F. (TAZIN. Witnesses:

Mmm E. (Hizm,

Rimown Scmzonnmi. 

